Cloud Computing, Introduction

Cloud computing refers to a set of services that provide companies and application developers with the means to scale their application's resource usage through the Internet on demand. It lowers the IT capital expenditure while giving users and developers many flexibility, performance and reliability advantages. It is an evolving technology with potentially wide-ranging impact to e-commerce and enterprise applications.

This course introduces students to the core concepts and technologies involved in cloud computing. Beginning with a survey of technologies deployed by Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and various academic and open-source providers, the instructor moves on to explore how cloud computing services can provide on-demand access to data storage, computing resources, and messaging. Discussions then focus on the enabling technologies that comprise the infrastructure behind a cloud computing service, including Web 2.0, virtualization, grid computing and utility computing. Finally, case studies are used to examine technical-business aspects of cloud computing and highlight recent success stories. Upon completion of this course, students will have a good grasp of the concepts and technologies that comprise cloud computing and insight into the direction the field it is heading.